Do you ever ask yourself, what is the point?
Why do we work hard to earn money to buy things we don’t need?
I’ve been asking myself that question for years, and I still don’t know the answer.
Lately, the YouTube algorithm has been feeding me videos about EDC items you can’t live without and ten things you should own that will last a lifetime. Some have value. Most miss the point, which makes me scratch my head.
Apparently, one of the first steps towards owning fewer things is buying the correct things to own fewer things.
I have been doing my best to reduce my belongings rather than add to them. When I think about it long enough, I realise I don’t need “stuff”. I’ve written about that many times, but now it is hitting home harder than ever. It is shaping what comes next.
I have a nice MacBook. I have a Pixel 8 Pro running GrapheneOS. I have a compact Canon G9X Mark II camera, which my son has claimed as his own. I own a set of good-quality kitchen knives. I own a nice Skoda hatchback, which I bought outright and owe nothing on. I have just bought the cottage we have lived in for the last five years. Aside from the mortgage, I don’t have consumer debt.
I have everything I need.
Why do I feel I need more things?
I told my wife that as we move into autumn, I am going through the drawers and boxes again and getting rid of more. I want to whittle my possessions down to 100 useful items: things that mean something to me, things that have utility, things I will be happy to leave behind when I am gone.
The number isn’t important. Everything has to earn its place.
The car has to last another ten years. When I retire, I will give up driving. I drive for a living and have spent enough of my life behind a steering wheel. My wife will keep her car, so we will still have transport, but mine will go. Until then, I will maintain it properly, care for it and keep it running as intended. When I retire, I will give it to my son.
Enough is enough.
The same principle applies to things I cannot put in a drawer.
Services, subscriptions and utilities have to earn their place too. I am willing to pay more for something reliable I use every day, but if it serves no useful purpose, it goes. I have already cancelled several subscriptions. The money saved offsets some of the rising cost of living, but the bigger gain is having fewer things quietly demanding money and attention every month.
There are services I value enough to keep. AI. Proton. Cloud computing. They are tools and I use them. When they stop being useful, they will go too.
When I retire, I will read more, write more and take more photographs. I will spend that part of my life recording memories and experiences and leaving them behind for future generations of my family.
Between now and then, I need to keep my head down.
That is easier said than done.
I am full of self-doubt. I try not to dwell on the past, but it always finds a way to remind me I have plenty of flaws.
None of that stops me from loving my family, and it does not stop them from loving me.
I love my life.
It has taken many years to get here, and now I have the life I always wanted. I need to look after it.
I have health issues to work through. I will write about those another time. They are manageable. I’ll do what I need to do and listen to my body.
Work is a challenge, especially as I approach 60. I like what I do. There are good days and shitty days, so I hold on to the good and let the others go.
That is how I keep going.
Maybe the trick isn’t finding better things to buy. Maybe it is choosing what I already have, using it, repairing it and allowing my life to leave marks on it.
I want the things I keep to develop a patina. I want years of use to wear them smooth and leave scratches on them. I want to repair them when they break. I want to know every mark, every imperfection and every little quirk.
I want them to look as though they have lived a life.
Much like this human form I inhabit.
Use what I have. Look after it. Repair it when necessary.
Look after myself.
Let that be enough.